


Anywhere but Here

by Burningchaos



Category: Roswell (TV)
Genre: F/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-05-12
Updated: 2009-05-12
Packaged: 2017-10-17 17:08:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/179079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burningchaos/pseuds/Burningchaos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alex is gone, Liz is foundering and Michael discovers it isn’t the end of the world. Angst heavy.<br/>Notes: this was originally two parts and some how the second part ended up being a diff pov than the first, but the fic still works. IDK, read, ignore, throw stones it is up to you.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Anywhere but Here

It wasn’t as if it was the end of the world; that had happened when Max slept with Tess, knocked her up and their group had fallen apart. Michael thought glumly, and then remembered, that the world hadn’t ended there either, not really. It had ended when Alex had died and they had been divided humans against aliens. But he thought for another moment, no, maybe it had ended when they found out Tess was the reason Alex died.

No one had died, this time. There was no alien crisis, nothing was wrong in the town of Roswell except him being dumped… Again. Fuck, he was turning into a lonely emo bitch, another day or two of this and he would be able to change his name to Max.

With a silent vow to avoid Maria and her games at all cost, Michael grabbed some boxers from the floor, sniffed them, decided they were clean enough and pulled them on. He repeated the process with a few t-shirts, two pairs of jeans and several socks before finding things that were acceptable to wear. It was well past the time for laundry, but at least his clothes hadn’t come to life and started protesting the condition they lived in.

It was one and he had to be to work in five minutes, which might make avoiding Maria difficult. But hey, it wasn’t like he had to talk to her. Parker would be there, and she was as pissed at Maria as he was. But that was nothing new either, those two had been on the outs since Maria had made it her life’s goal to help Max fix their relationship. Which Michael knew was never going to happen.

Michael brushed his teeth, dragged a brush through his hair, it was work after all, and headed out the door. The summer sun was high in the sky, the sidewalk and roads had the watery shimmer from the heat and he was already ready to crawl back inside his air conditioned apartment.

The drive to the Crashdown was short, but even on his motorcycle the air was stifling, and stagnant. He pulled around the side of the building, parked near the back door, took a deep breath and walked into the kitchen.

Jose was flipping burgers with one hand and pulling a basket of onion rings with the other, but as Michael looked over the bar he could see the only people in the dinning area was Max, Isabel and Maria. Fuck. Everyone he didn’t want to see.

Liz popped her head through the door, and motioned for him to follow her. Her eyes were dark and smudged with purple. It was obvious she wasn’t sleeping. He was worried about her. She still cried all the time but it had only been a few months since Alex had died so he wasn’t surprised. Maria sniffed and shed a tear here and there, but Liz…her grief made him ache. It was so raw and anyone who looked at her could see that Alex had been more of a friend to her then Maria had ever been.

He headed into the locker room, let the door swing shut behind him and waited to see what Liz wanted. She stood there in her uniform, not looking at him, biting her lip and wringing her hands long enough that Michael thought he might have to pry what she wanted out of her.

“I want to go somewhere.” Her voice was soft, and rough. She’d been crying. Again.

“Where do you want to go?” He couldn’t understand why she was asking him. Not really, but then again he was pretty much the only person she was talking to besides her parents. Hell, she was the only person he was talking to outside of work and necessity too.

She looked at him, her eyes were flat and dead; in that instant he hated Maria for that as much as he hated Max and Tess, because they were all equally at fault.

“Anywhere but here.” Her need to get away must have been overwhelming because Liz never asked for anything. She gave and gave till there was nothing left. She didn’t ask for anything, ever.

“After shift?”

Liz nodded slowly, “I talked to Dad. He gave us the next few days off.” She looked nervous. “Was that alright?”

Michael smiled, even though he didn’t feel like it. “Yeah, now let’s get this day over so we can get the hell out of here.” Liz was watching him carefully and he must have pulled it off because she walked over and hugged him.

“Thank you.” Liz stepped back quickly after and headed toward the stairs. “I’ll be back down later.”

“Sweet.” Michael watched her for a second before going and changing into his work shirt and tying a bandanna around his head. He just needed to get through a six hour shift with Maria.

 

Five plus hours later Michael wiped down the stainless steel counters. Mr. Parker was at the grill now, and his shift was five minutes from being over. He’d managed to avoid talking to Maria and Max, only lost his temper once and had a single sorrowful censoring gaze from Isabel.

“Michael.” He turned to look at Mr. Parker, who he still couldn’t seem to call Jeff, no matter how many times he’d been asked to.

“Sir?”

“Son, how many times have I asked you to call me Jeff?” Mr. Parker sighed, shook his head and wiped his hands off on his apron.

“Um…” Michael scratched his head. He hated this.

“Right… then.” He dug into his pocket and pulled out his car keys. “I have no idea where you are going, or what you’re doing but it isn’t happening on that bike of yours.”

Michael reached out, took the keys and pocketed them. “I’ll be careful.”

Mr. Parker looked at him, his gaze measured and even. “I know you will, son.” He turned away, and Michael was left unbalanced because he knew Mr. Parker hadn’t been talking about the car. That kind of trust was foreign to him, and yet it was being given. He wasn’t sure what he’d done to earn it but there it was.

He heard Liz coming down the stairs and went to change his shirt. “You ready?”

She looked better, like maybe she’d had a nap or something, he didn’t know but she looked more alive, less pale. Maybe she was just looking forward to getting out what ever it was he wanted to make sure she stayed this way. “Absolutely.”

~*~

 

Liz sat tapping her barefoot on the dash, her hand hung out the window, surfing on the wind that was tangling her hair. Michael fiddled with the radio even though she’d told him it didn’t work. For the first time in weeks she felt relaxed… so relaxed that she slipped into sleep before she even knew it was happening.

She dreamt, relentless and unforgiving of what Max didn’t say and all the things he did, the wounds he left and how she feels dirty and incomplete. She dreamt Alex is still alive, laughing at some stupid joke, but he melted away and all that is left is an aching hole waiting to be filled.

“Liz?” A touch on her shoulder jolted her awake, her mind still clinging to the dregs of the dreams, nightmares of her reality. “I’m stopping for gas, you hungry?” Michael’s face was drawn and pinched. She wondered if she said anything. Her mother had woken her up to many times when she’d been crying out Alex’s name. Michael’s expression said she had, and there was nothing she could say or do about it. She needed time, and space and it wasn’t happening at home.

“Where are we?” Liz looked at the shitty gas station in front of them and winces.

“Just outside Fort Stockton,” Michael didn’t look at her as he said it. She’d never really been able to read him, so she has no idea why they are in Texas and where the hell they are going, but it feels like freedom and she loved that.

“Okay.” Liz opened her door, snagged her purse and headed into the empty convenience store. The bright lights caused her wince, and the slightly dusty smell of the place had her frowning.

As she headed towards the counter, she pulled out two twenties. Liz waited for the half asleep clerk to look up from his magazine. “He’s filling it up.” Her voice echoed in the empty store, startling the man into finally looking up, nodded and went back to reading. Shaking her head in disgust, Liz went over snagged Two Peach Snapple’s, a bottle of water, a cherry coke and a bag of chips. She wasn’t really hungry, it was more of a restless feeling then anything else but they were in the middle of nowhere and who knew where the next place was.

She looked out the window and saw Michael walking in. Liz headed over to the counter, set down her stuff and waited. He looked at the Snapple, grunted and headed over to the microwave. He started nuking a toxic burrito and then grabbed three slices of the greasiest pizza Liz had ever seen. With a wince, Liz looked back at the cashier. “I’m paying for his too,” handing over the money and went to the car.

Liz climbed into the driver’s seat, set a Snapple in Michael’s cup holder and opened up her cherry coke. She started the car, adjusted the mirror and the seat, and then waited. Michael ambled out, munching on one of his slices. He paused looked at her and climbed in the passenger seat.

“So where are we going?”

“Corpus Christi?” Michael’s answer was more of a question then an answer, but Liz liked how it sounded, and the fact that they weren’t there yet.

“The beach?” Liz felt the words sink into her consciousness, and with it, the shift desire to see the ocean, smell the slat laden air and feel the water slap against her body.

“Yeah. That works.”

She smiled at him, “You sleep, and I’ll drive.”

Michael grunted, poked at the radio a couple more times, as she pulled out on to the highway, and then devoured the rest of his food. His presence in the car was huge, and she wanted to say something… anything to make him understand what she was thinking, except how could she explain when she couldn’t even figure it out? So there really wasn’t much to say. She didn’t want to talk about the others, or Alex which pretty much precluded everything.

The silence stretched out before them as endless as the road she was driving, and it should have been awkward but it wasn’t. Eventually she started humming the song that had invaded her mind… _She's not a drama queen, She doesn't wanna feel this way only 17 and tired, yeah…Caught in the in between of beautiful disaster._.. but stopped when she felt Michael’s eyes on her. She didn’t expect him to know the words, but she also didn’t want him to know how much this song feels like her life.

Hours passed; Michael finished his Snapple and snacks, and they stop again to use the bathroom. He finally falls asleep leaving her to her thoughts. Liz could tell they are getting closer to Corpus Christi, and eventually the signs told she was right. Right here, an exit there and she was pulling on to the sand.

It is still mostly dark but she could smell the salt in the air, taste it on her tongue and she could hear the waves slapping lightly on the shore. Liz toed off her shoes, quietly opened the car door and headed toward the water.

The sand was still warm between her toes, and the water was a dark expanse in front of her. If someone asked her what she was thinking, what was driving her, she wouldn’t be able to say anything; she just wanted to get into the water. To feel it, let it surround her and maybe wash away everything she was feeling, make her whole and clean again. It was an unrealistic want, need, but that was it and no one, except maybe Michael would understand that.

Liz hesitated for a moment, after all it was still dark and it was the most active time for sharks, but the need drove her. She stepped in, the Gulf was colder then the Pacific and with the heat wave, it was a welcome chill. She walked until the water was almost to her waist. Her hands rested on top of the water, rising and falling with each wave as it rose and ebbed.

The sky was started to turn purple/pink/red/blue as the sun started to make an appearance. Liz closed her eyes against the sight; it was almost too perfect, too beautiful for human eyes. She rolled her neck, and slowly sunk into the water. If she was religious, she would say this was a baptism and that she was washing away her sins, becoming a new, except she didn’t believe in god; especially not a god that allowed an alien to time travel and another kill her best friend.

The water closed over her head, as she pulled her hair away from her face as it was carried there by the water. One beat, maybe two and she was standing again. The sky was now even brighter, the gulls crying to one another and Michael standing in front of her, soaked and panting.

“Care to explain what the hell you are doing?” His expression was foreboding, concerned and without a thought laughter spilled from her lips.

“Water baptism.”

Michael’s expression didn’t change. She smiled as the salt dried on her skin, tightening it. It felt awful, but she was happy.

He raised and eyebrow at her, “So I didn’t need to get wet is what you are saying?”

“Nope.”

Michael crossed his arms, turned and looked at the sky with a slight smile on his face. He turned back to face her and with a quick movement shoved her back into the water. A shriek escaped as she tumbled backwards, with a desperate lunge she grab him and did her best to drag him down with her. It was ineffective, but it had also stopped her from submerging again.

Unexpectedly, Michael swung her up into a fireman’s carry and strode back towards the beach. “Caveman.”

She could feel his laughter, “No; hungry, wet jeans wearing man.” Liz poked him in the back, just as he swung her down and dropped her on her feet. The car was right next to them, the passenger door hanging open, and the door dinging. He’d been worried, and for some reason that made her even happier. She reached in, popped the trunk and grabbed the bag she’d packed the day before.

“Here.” Liz tossed him a clean shirt and jeans. At the expression on his face she shrugged, “Your work locker.”

“Oh,” His expression was sheepish. He looked at the clothes and then around for a place to change. Liz looked at him and then turned toward the ocean again when it hit her; she was ready to go home.

She turned and looked at Michael as he tugged his shirt down. “I’m ready to go home.”

He scratched his eyebrow, looked at her for a few heartbeats and nodded. “Pancakes first though, okay?”

Liz smiled and hugged him. “Of course.”

 

 _The lyrics Liz hums are from the song Beautiful Disaster by Jon McLaughlin_


End file.
